|
MmeGigs -> I have a new family member (10/31/2008 7:04:06 PM)
|
...and I'm not terribly happy about it. Yes, this is a bit of a rant. I'm frustrated.
He's a 3-4 month old kitten that someone dumped out in the country and who found his way to my house. He's solid black with gold eyes - really beautiful - and incredibly friendly with a purr like a cement mixer. We've named him Boo, since he found us a week before Halloween. He has health problems - we'll need to get him to the vet and get him treated for worms, mites and god knows what all else. He has nice litter box manners, which is a definite plus, and loves just about anyone and anything, but his bedtime manners leave something to be desired. He seems to think that 4 AM is a great time to wake up and pet the kitty.
I was hoping that in a few years I'd be cat-free. I've had my cats Bill and Bob for 16 years. Bob died a few years ago, and I don't expect that Bill has more than another 5 years or so in him. I was kind of looking forward to being catless. While I really enjoy them (before finding my hubby, my plan for retirement was to be a crazy old spinster with a house full of cats), I've developed a moderate allergy to them so petting and playing with them isn't an entirely pleasant experience. I've also had my fill of cleaning the cat box. And I really wanted to select my next carpeting without worrying about how it will handle hairballs and cat-spew.
We have 3 cats. In addition to Bill and Boo, there's Bucky. Someone dumped him out here late last winter. The feral cats that were hanging around at the time (they were once someone's pet but have gone wild since they were dumped) wouldn't let him into the warm places. I was working hard to ignore him, but during an early spring storm he was huddled on the steps covered with a layer of ice and snow. I wasn't going to take him in - I still had this picture of a cat-free future in my head - but I wasn't committed to that and my hubby couldn't stand it and went and got him. Bucky was 3-4 months old when we took him in, so we've committed to a cat-infested life for the next 15-20 years. With that in mind, it wasn't that tough to make a concurrent commitment to Boo.
I've found homes for at least a dozen dumped and friendly cats and their offspring since we've been out here in the country. I've got no one who'll take any more, and none of the local shelters will take them. A local cat shelter closed recently, so there are lots of cats around here looking for homes. This has put us in a heck of a spot. What do you do when some sweet-natured starving animal runs up to you begging for affection? I tried to be hard-hearted, but I'm just no good at it. We decided that we'd take in those cats that came up and asked us to, but now that we've got 3, we're wondering how many we can actually handle. Three is seeming like a lot of cats. Bill's demands for affection seemed to increase when Bucky moved in, Bill and Bucky both are having issues with Boo's ultra-affectionate nature and need more attention.
We decided to live with 3 cats for a while and see how it works. Unfortunately, there is a new player in the drama. I was out on the back porch tonight calling Bucky in for the evening and a beautiful tuxedo kitty came running up to me from the garden. He's about 6 months old or so, extremely friendly, and very skinny. Someone dumped him out here. I fed him - I couldn't help myself - so I've pretty much committed us to taking him in. Boo's not going to care, but Bill and Bucky are going to be pissed off. Particularly Bill. He feels that he is an alpha cat but had to suppress that while he lived with Bob, who dommed him something fierce. He was really digging up on being an only cat and resents the recent additions to our household.
I hope that some karma will be visited upon these low-life scum-sucking jerks who feel that dumping their unwanted pets in the country is a fine and dandy thing to do. My folks taught me that getting a pet was a long-term commitment not to be undertaken lightly. It frustrates me no end that I am being put in the position of having to fulfill the commitment these irresponsible strangers made to these cats or let the poor beasts become sick or starved and die. If they can survive in the wild they'll be killing the chicks of the wild turkey and pheasant that nest around here, and I don't want that. The animal control folks have told me that I can expect more of this as the economy worsens. People who can't afford to keep their pets or have to move and can't find a place that takes pets, and can't afford what the shelters charge to drop them off will be dumping them off on the doorsteps of the shelters or out in the country.
We'll vet and neuter the cats we get and I guess we'll try to find homes for whichever of them someone will take so that we'll have room to take in the next cats that get dropped off. I guess I'll be dealing with cats for the rest of my life. The hubby just came home and I let him know that our cat population is going to be increasing by one. He let out an exasperated sigh and bowed to the inevitable. So now we're discussing our possible future as an ad-hoc cat shelter. It will mean inconvenience and construction and expense we don't really want to take on and finding a vet who's willing to give us a group discount, and a time commitment from us for daily kitty affection.
I really do enjoy the kitties but I really resent being put in this position by irresponsible assholes.
|
|
|
|
